Medical guidewires are used in numerous catheterization procedures as an aid to placement of a catheter and/or prosthesis at a selected site within a body lumen. The catheter is constructed to perform a particular procedure at that internal site. Among the more common uses of guidewire is in the catheterization of blood vessels for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. In such a vascular catheterization procedure, the guidewire is inserted, usually percutaneously, into one of the patient's blood vessels and is manipulated and advanced through the branches of the vascular system to the target site. The diagnostic or treatment catheter is then threaded over and advanced along the guidewire, with the guidewire serving to guide the catheter directly to the target site.
Often, use of a measuring or marker catheter is required to accurately determine the length of vasculature that requires treatment prior to insertion of the diagnostic or treatment catheter. More particularly, after the guidewire is positioned within the vasculature, a marker catheter is passed over the guidewire to the site of treatment. The marker catheter is provided with a plurality of radiopaque marker bands that are utilized to make in situ measurements and determine the length of vasculature that requires treatment. The marker catheter is removed. With the measurements, the appropriate size of an implant or prosthesis required for the treatment site may be selected. An implant or prosthesis which may be utilized in treatment or diagnostics of the treatment site may be a stent, a stent graft, a filter, an occlusion device or other implantable device. The selected implant is then delivered to the treatment site using a second catheter that is passed over the indwelling guidewire.
As endovascular interventional therapies have increased in popularity, physicians desire to treat their patients more efficiently. For example, physicians desire to reduce the impact to the patient from the interventional or operation standpoint. The exchange of several catheter devices as described above impacts the patient, and in some cases of tortuous vasculature, reduces patient baseline. A patient's baseline typically refers to a patient's condition prior to a clinical procedure or intervention, and thus is the control used for comparison purposes after the clinical treatment is applied. In regards to a clinical treatment utilizing a catheter, the catheter may cause damage to the patient's vessels during introduction, tracking, and manipulation. Thus, the exchange of several catheter devices may yield more or additional damage or irritation to the areas of contact, including the introduction site and internal surfaces of vessels. In addition to reducing patient impact, it is also desirable to reduce costs associated with an interventional procedure such as operating time and the number of devices required per procedure. Embodiments hereof are related to a guidewire that combines the delivery guidewire and the dimensioning catheter in order to reduce patient impact and costs associated with an endovascular interventional procedure.